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Cultural Dissent

11 mad days in May By Sean Healy BRISBANE — This month the 1991 Biennial, the international art festival come to Brisbane. With it comes the initiative of a wide range of local Brisbane artists, poets and performers — the First Festival Fringe.

A Shadow Over East Timor A documentary by Mandy King and James Kesteven Produced by Shadow Films in association with SBS Television To be screened by SBS TV on Friday, May 3, 11.40 p.m. (11.10 p.m. in Adelaide) Reviewed by Norm Dixon Hidden

By Tracy Sorensen SYDNEY — Twelve years ago, the World Development Tea Co-operative imported just enough tea from Sri Lanka to fill someone's garage. Today, the non-profit organisation's Tradewinds teas can be found in Coles supermarkets

Music I didn't need like this By Stuart Wax Whenever I turn on my rented television, I'm confronted with what seems to be the longest commercial on our airwaves. Set to that old song "He ain't heavy, he's my brother", this ad is there to make us

By Peter Boyle MELBOURNE — Romanian Simona Jobbagy was one of several women artists who participated in the second exhibition of refugee women's art organised by the Foundation for the Survivors of Torture in Melbourne Town Hall on April 22-26.

After the Gulf War: For Peace in the Middle East Edited by StJohn Kettle and Stephanie Dowrick Pluto Press, 1991. 134 pp. $9.95 Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen There is always a lag between the television news which hits us in 30-second grabs and

The Russia House Director Fred Schepisi Starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer Reviewed by Ian Bolas Predictable is the best word to describe The Russia House, both for its strengths and its weaknesses. There is nothing surprising either

The Owl and the Pussy Cat em = By Phil Shannon The Owl and the Pussy Cat made an Accord in the year 1983 They made many promises and scorned doubting Thomases and signed it most gratefully. The Owl looked up to the dollar above and sang with a

Footsteps By Pramoedya Ananta Toer Translated by Max Lane Penguin. $14.99. Reviewed by Stephen Robson Like its predecessors, the third volume of this quartet of novels is riveting reading. Through the character of Minke, the narrator of the

The Incredible Exploding Man By John Jiggens Samizdat Press, 1991. 132 pp. $12.95 Reviewed by Graham Lamond Sydney, 1978: the Hilton bombing, an act of horrific violence, leaving three men dead. This was no game. Yet in The Incredible Exploding

By Kim Spurway Lesbians on the Loose is the biggest and most widely read lesbian magazine in Australia. Circulated free of charge once a month, it emphasises topical issues, with lots of short, information-based articles and a smaller number of

Henry IV Part I By William Shakespeare Staged by Wayne Harrison, Philip Parsons and John Senczuk With Andrew McFarlane, Marcus Graham, Angelo D'Angelo Sydney Theatre Company The Wharf, Pier 4 Reviewed by Angela Matheson In an attempt to

By Pat Brewer "We have to understand quite clearly why people sought to conquer nature, how frightening they found its seasons, pests, predators and uncertainties. We must sympathise with why human society felt the need for the control that

Women who do exist By Anne O'Callaghan The Company of Strangers, being screened during the Sydney Film Festival, is an endearing film about seven women stranded at a deserted farm house in the stunningly beautiful countryside of the Mont Tremblant

By Dave Riley It's a new world, I tell you, a brave new world. I know this world because I know the Labor Party like I know the back of my hand. And you know, I think the devil got into it. It's possessed. I'm waiting for Bob Hawke's head to spin

No News would be bad news By Louise Prest CANBERRA — A band well known to Canberra's marchers and rally goers — the New New World Order — had its professional debut here last month. Formerly called the Canberra Samba Band, New New World

Don't show me your green, gold, white, and blue em = By Robin Davidson Well i care about interest rates, unemployment and inflation, the effects of debt on third world nations, shootings, bombings, hangings and mass starvation, i care that

By Karen Fletcher Nigel Schmidt died in front of his class at Melville High school in Kempsey just before 10 a.m. on May 2. The immediate cause of death was a blast from a sawn-off shotgun he carried to school in his sports bag and turned on himself

By Pat Brewer The internationally acclaimed Marxist economist Ernest Mandel will be speaking here in July, it was confirmed last week. Mandel will be a featured speaker at the Socialist Scholars Conference, being held in Melbourne from July 18 to

By Melanie Sjoberg MELBOURNE — Striding across the railway tracks into the grime and clatter of the Jolimont Train Maintenance Depot is an unusual way to get to a theatre. This is, however, the home of the Melbourne Workers Theatre. "Theatre

It's a Matter of Survival By Anita Gordon and David Suzuki Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990. 278 pp., $16.95 Reviewed by Phil Shannon The earth is terribly, possibly terminally, ill. Few people can articulate this with the clarity and passion of

The Silence of the Lambs Directed by Jonathan Demme Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn Reviewed by Dave Riley Here's something that will haunt you longer than the taste of popcorn. The story revolves around the pursuit of a

Kiev em = By Duncan Richardson Rumour has it they're closing you down, Hitler's city Napoleon's town but neither wanted this much from you, no demon terrifies like friends who know what's best. Since Chernobyl's cupolas let go their onion

Mates. Five champions of the Labor right talking with Fia Cumming Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1991. 344 pp, $29.95 Reviewed by Steve Painter Keating, Richardson, Carr, Brereton and McLeay, five key figures in the NSW and federal Labor Party during

Against the 'silent famine' SYDNEY — A fundraising concert is to help people suffering from famine in Eritrea and the Sudan thanks to the determination of Sydney teenager Kirsty Packham. Concerned that some 27 million people are at threat of

Yaaba Written and directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo With Fatimata Sanga, Noufou Ouedraogo and Roukietou Academy Twin Cinema, Paddington Reviewed by Norm Dixon Director Idrissa Ouedraogo invites the viewer to become part of the daily life of a

By Pat Brewer A leader of the democratic left in Hungary will speak at the Socialist Scholars Conference in Melbourne, July 18-21. Historian and Sovietologist Tamas Krausz, a leader of Left Alternative, will discuss the political and economic

By Maurice Sibelle BRISBANE — Jeff Usher is widely regarded as this city's best jazz pianist. In jazz circles he's the cat with the cool fingers. Musicians purse their lips, hum and nod with respect. It isn't hard to see why. His first

Black Cargo Melbourne Workers Theatre Anthill Theatre, South Melbourne Reviewed by David Adamson Based on the short story of the same name by John Morrison, himself a wharfie for 10 years in the '30s and '40s, this play has been adapted by John

Toward a Transpersonal Ecology: Developing New Foundations For Environmentalism By Warwick Fox Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1990. 380 pp., $32.95 Reviewed by Phil Shannon Some keepers of the secular philosophical and political faiths of

Death in Brunswick Written and directed by John Ruane Rated M Reviewed by Angela Matheson Sam Neill is Carl, a downwardly mobile loser caught in the seamier side of life in ethnic inner-city Melbourne. Newly appointed as chef in a seedy night

Comedy Paul Kelly and the Messengers Mushroom Records Reviewed by Col Hesse "From Little Things Big Things Grow" is the song on Paul Kelly's new album which really grabs you. Written by Kelly and Kev Carmody, it's about "the Gurindji stockmen

Art from the lounge room By Philippa Stanford BRISBANE — "If the unemployed are dole bludgers what the fuck are the idle rich?" asks one of the exhibits in a political poster display at the Queensland Art Gallery. The posters cover 1970-90

By Alastair Davidson Manning Clark will be remembered by me in a series of vignettes of kaleidoscopic variety. Together they form a composite picture which explains why he attained the status of Australia's first great historian as much as do the

Jaywalkin' Big Jay McNeely and the Mighty Reapers ABC records. Available on CD and cassette The Big Jay McNeely Show can be seen on Thursday, June 6, at the Old Lion Hotel, Adelaide; Friday, June 7, at the Birkenhead Point Tavern, Sydney;

Radio features World Environment Day By Tracy Sorensen SYDNEY — Public access radio station 2SER-FM will mark World Environment Day on June 5 with a full day of special programs, reports, interviews, features and music. "Public radio was

From Hanoi to Hollywood: The Vietnam War In American Film Linda Dittmar and Gene Michau (eds) Rutgers University Press, 1990. 387 pp. $26.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon "Boy, I saw Rambo last night; now I know what to do next time", said

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In these days of growing media concentration, Green Left Weekly is a proudly independent voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality. By printing the news and ideas the mainstream media won't, Green Left Weekly exposes the lies and distortions of the power brokers and helps us to better understand the world around us.